Bharat Rashtra Samithi working president and former Telangana municipal administration minister K T Rama Rao on Monday resisted the attempts of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) authorities to question him, stating that he won’t appear before the investigating officers, if his lawyers were not allowed to be present along with him.
KTR arrived at the ACB office with his legal team for questioning in the Formula-E racing case. However, the police stopped his vehicle outside the office and prevented his lawyers from accompanying him.
KTR expressed strong objection to this. He refused to enter the ACB office after the police denied permission to his lawyers to accompany him during the questioning.
The BRS leader argued with the ACB authorities outside the office for about 40 minutes and left the place without entering the building.
Before leaving, KTR submitted a written letter to ACB ASP Officer Khan, stating, "I am ready to provide the necessary information."
Speaking to reporters later, KTR said there was nothing in the Formula-E case, and chief minister A Revanth Reddy will gain nothing from this.
“Today marks the second death anniversary of my uncle, and they planned to detain me here and raid my house,” he alleged.
“Since the court verdict is reserved, I am not required to appear for questioning. But as a law-abiding citizen, I came here voluntarily. I could have avoided this by citing the pending court verdict, but I didn’t because I have done nothing wrong. I came with courage because I am honest."
He added, "Why are they afraid of me bringing a lawyer for questioning? There was a conspiracy in the Patnam Narender Reddy case, and under Revanth’s direction, a false statement was attributed to me. That’s why I brought a lawyer to ensure no false statements are imposed on me,” he said.
He said tf there was nothing to hide, why were the police afraid of a lawyer?
“They made me wait on the road for half an hour. I don’t trust Revanth. I will only face questioning in the presence of my lawyer, or else I’ll give my statement in writing. I’m certain that what happened in the Patnam Narender Reddy case will happen to me too. Recently, there was the Allu Arjun drama, and now it’s the KTR case drama. This is all just a diversion tactic,” he said.
The ACB had issued a notice to KTR to appear for questioning at 10 AM on Monday in connection with the Formula-E car race case. Following legal advice, KTR announced in a BRS meeting on Saturday that he would attend the questioning.
On Monday morning, he left his residence in Nandinagar for the ACB office. Before leaving, former ministers Jagadish Reddy, Srinivas Goud, Sabitha Indra Reddy, Vemula Prashanth Reddy, and several MLAs and MLCs met him at his residence.
In anticipation of protests from BRS activists, heavy security was deployed around the ACB office, with 500 police personnel, Task Force members, and Special Party police guarding the area.